


Blitzkrieg

by ivarara



Series: Hawk n Hum [3]
Category: Hollow Knight (Video Game)
Genre: uses my dirty little hands to make more friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-17
Updated: 2019-06-17
Packaged: 2020-05-13 10:14:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19249123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ivarara/pseuds/ivarara
Summary: Hawk and Hum are totally, unarguably, lost. They find a stranger. Hum makes a friend.





	Blitzkrieg

Deepnest was unnerving, to say the least. The constant sound of things writhing and squirming just out of sight put Hawk on edge constantly. Always, _always_ keeping an eye on Hum. Fortunately she usually stuck close to him like a shadow.  


Not here.

There were no shadows. Absolutely no light filtered down. The only glow came from the iridescent pink plants that grew sparsely. 

No, no; not any shadows, figuratively, in Hum’s case, or literally.

Instead, Hum stayed positively _plastered_ to his side. She no longer trailed him like her shadowy self. She was closer than that. She refused to progress unless she could grab his hand or latch on to his cloak. In most cases, he was fine with the hand-holding. The enemies in Deepnest were irritating, sure, but he could handle them one-handed with his nail. Worse cases, where she was petrified enough to need prompting to move at all, were when he caved in and let her onto his shoulders. Sure, he had to hunch over a majority of the time. Sure, it made his balance different so he had to adjust. He didn’t care; it kept her safe.

“Hawk, we’ve already been here,” Hum’s voice cut through the rustling ambience. Hawk paused, looked around (as useless as it was to do-- _he couldn’t see anything)_. But he could recognize a few things: the patterns of the grass and plants that managed to grow, the remains of bugs they’d already come across and dealt with. “We’re lost, aren’t we?” Hum whined.

“I mean. Maybe,” he answered eloquently. Hum gave a groan of despair and slumped over from her perch.

“We’re gonna die here!” she panicked.

“We are not dying here,” he scolded. “We can find our way out, just as we have before. We’ll be fine.”

He hoped. He’d never admit it out loud, but the hulls of slain foes reanimating behind his back was awfully creepy. Sometimes he’d prefer to just skitter away than deal with them.

He cautiously moved forward. They’d encountered another fork in the path. He paused. “Have we gone this way yet?”

“I don’t think so,” Hum murmurs.

“So this could be our break.” He tried to appear more optimistic than he felt. If Hum got the notion that he was in any way trepid about their situation, she’d undoubtedly escalate into a full fit of panic.

Carefully, he trekked forward, feet crunching on the pebbles and dirt and...bones? Hulls? He didn’t think about it too much. Definitely didn’t want to.

The passage was narrow and dim. Hawk leant forward so Hum’s horns, and his own, wouldn’t knock against the short roof of the walkway. His nail was out and at the ready in his hand, long and threatening. At the end of the passageway, a shorter tunnel led to a cramped, disorganized room. Hum had to relinquish her seat in order for them to fit through, though Hawk made it clear he would go through first without saying a single word. Hum followed closely behind.

The room was sparse. A few containers were scattered about, but not much else to speak of. As he exited the cramped tunnel, Hawk stood tall, readying his nail again. Hum quietly pattered in behind him, peering around his side.

“I don’t really think--” he started.

“Who’s there?” a disembodied voice rang out. “State yourself!”

Hum had thrown herself behind Hawk’s bulk, eyes wide. Hawk crouched into a defensive pose, prepared for an encounter.

A dark, looming figure emerged from a far corner. “Do I need to repeat myself, newcomer?”

Even hidden behind her sibling, Hum shook her head.

“I should ask you the same thing, stranger.” Hawk retorted. “Who are you?”

The shape ambled out of the darkness to fully reveal itself. Not just a vessel, like he and his sibling were. This bug must be a warrior or something. Their eyes were piercing, they held themselves high and moved confidently. When they had fully emerged from the edge of darkness in the room, they paused in front of the duo.

From behind Hawk’s back, Hum chirped out a hesitant greeting. “Howdy!”

“Pleased to meet you, little one,” the stranger’s voice rumbled. “You appear to be, ah.. _.friendlier_ than your guardian, here.”

Hawk scowled, clenching his fist around his spear and resisting the urge to not kill the stranger, but at least smack him in some way. Hum giggled, oblivious.

“He’s my brother!” Hum pipes. “He’s super tough and smart!”

The stranger’s blank face somehow still betrayed amusement. “Is he, now?”

“Yeah!” Hum nudged his back. “Right?” Hawk scowls. “Tell him your name.”

“I’d rather not,” he mutters.

“Be nice! They’re being nice to us.”

He heaved a sigh. “Hawk.”

“‘Hawk’, eh? Absolute pleasure to meet you, sir. And what about you, pipsqueak?”

“Hum!”

“Hawk and Hum,” the figure repeats to themselves. “What brings you here?”

“Literally nothing. We were just leaving,” Hawk urges.

“Hawk,” Hum scolds (as much as someone of her stature can scold). “Straighten up! They’re being nice to us, you need to be nice back.”

Hawk resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

“She brings up a fair point,” the stranger suggests. “I’ve had plenty an opportunity to strike, yet I haven’t. I mean you two no harm in any way.”

“See? They’re friendly.”

Hawk still glowers. “Fine.”

“How ‘bout you, friend?” Hum continues, oblivious to the tension. “What’s your name?”

“Blitz,” they utter, and then puff their chest out proudly. “Blitz the Warrior.”

“Neat!” Hum gathered enough courage to step out from behind Hawk’s back to stand at his side. “Do you live here? Or around here?”

“I actually don’t live anywhere,” Blitz utters in a straight-forward manner. “I just liked this room. I found it a short while ago and stuck around.”

“Are you...doing anything, currently?” Hawk tried to be polite.

“Nobody has much need for a Warrior anymore, sadly, so no. Like I mentioned, I’ve just been hanging out here, basically.”

Instantly, Hum perks up. “You can come with us!”

Hawk jolts as he processes the invitation. “Hum, we don’t even know what we’re doing, still.” _Plus, it’s hard enough to keep an eye on one tag-along,_ he thought to himself bitterly.

“Maybe Blitz knows his way around, though,” Hum glances hopefully at the taller bug.

“A fair bit, yes,” Blitz murmurs.

“So can he come with us? He’d be helpful!” Hums eyes were wide.

Hawk desperately, desperately wanted to say no. ‘We don’t need someone else to worry about. We don’t even know him that well. What if he has a reputation? What if he puts us in danger by being near?’

Blitz looked at Hawk’s warring self, obviously amused at the bickering. “I can’t guarantee I’ll be much of any navigational use,” he starts. “But I assure you, my skills with a nail are still fresh, and you seem like you need a reprieve from babysitting once in a while, no?”

(Hawk loved Hum. Loved her more than he could ever say. But yes, it did get tiring to constantly tell her, ‘No, we can’t keep that. No, we can’t stick around so this bug doesn’t get lonely. We have our own things to focus on. Put that down. Don’t go there. Stay back.’ The idea of someone else doing the watching while he focused on whatever task was at hand was...enticing.)

“Hawker! Let him come with us!” Hum pressed persistently.

Hawk rolled his eyes. “Fine. He can stick with us, for now.” Hum danced on the tip of her toes, something she did when excitement or happiness overtook any other reaction she could procure, and darted forward to Blitz.

“We’re a trio now! With two cool fighters!”

Blitz’s dark face still betrayed his amusement at the smaller vessel’s excitement. “I suppose so.” 

Unexplainably, and _irritatingly_ , Hawk felt a protective surge at seeing Hum pester someone else for once. To distract himself, he spoke. “Let’s head out. We can find a building or bench to rest in for a bit.”   



End file.
